Review of Write Before Christmas

Write Before Christmas is an entertaining ride that is probably good enough for Top 5 in 2019's run of Christmas Hallmark movies. It pleasantly diverts from the normal formula by actually following 4 connected but not interweaving stories: 3 romances and 1 boy band reunion (as odd as that sounds). The main couple, Jessica and Luke, are cute with charming enough chemistry. The older couple is entirely predictable but works mostly thanks to the guy. And then you have the military couple, which is not only a unique plot thread for Hallmark with a male soldier wooing a female soldier but is also probably the best written arc of the movie. The fourth thread has to do with the lead member of a split-up boy band. Jessica's card to him eventually inspired him to reunite the band and appreciate his brother more. All necessary only to precipitate the end of the movie. All four of these threads bring something a little different to the show, which is a good thing. Different viewers will have their favorites of the four threads, or at least, the 3 couples. The down side to this, of course, is that if you really liked a particular couple, you don't get to spend a lot of time with them. In the end, all the characters and especially all the romances end up pretty thin. The lead couple meet in one scene, have basically one day together in a prolonged couple of scenes, and then aren't together again until the end of the movie. The end is straightforward, predictable, but satisfying, especially the final scene with both couples together.